The 12th ITU Winter Triathlon World Championships in Freudenstadt, Germany were a resounding success even in spite of the warm winter weather that forced event organizers to bring in 900 cubic meters of artificial snow for the cross-country ski course.

Elite Women - February 23, 2008
7.5-km run, 12-km mountain bike, 10-km cross-country ski
The irrepressible Sigrid Mutscheller of Germany won the ITU Winter Triathlon World Championships for a record sixth time. She delighted the home crowds by leading a gold-silver sweep for the home team. Mutscheller won with a time of 1 hour, 51 minutes and 4 seconds, almost a full 90 seconds ahead of her closest competitor. Her team mate Anke Kullman won her first World Championship medal, taking the silver while Austrian Carina Wasle, last years runner-up, came across for the bronze.

After trailing for much of the race, Mutscheller and Wasle rode into T2 side-by-side. But from the beginning of the tough 10-kilometer cross-country ski course, Mutscheller took command and stole the lead from Wasle for the first time in the race. After the first lap the defending champion opened up a 30-second gap, then parlayed that into a 90-second lead. From there, Mutscheller never looked back and the final result was inevitable, the same result the sport had seen at five previous World Championships. Wasle wasnt able to hold off Kullman, another charging German who surged past for the silver while Wasle settled for the bronze.

Im really happy. It was such a challenge for me to win this in my hometown. I was very, very nervous before the race. During the race it was so hard for me on the bike to overtake Carina (Wasle) but Im so happy I did, said Mutscheller. There were no tactics, I just gave all I had. I had a very good ski leg and throughout the race I gave it my best.

Mutscheller entered the history books as the only athlete in ITU history to win six elite World Championships. She was previously tied with Great Britains Simon Lessing and the late Benny Vansteelant who each owned five elite World Championships. Mutscheller has dominated Winter Triathlon since the sports beginning in 1997, having medalled in ten of the 12 World Championships. Shes also been on the podium for every European Championship since 1998, winning seven times in all.

Under23 Women - February 23, 2008
7.5-km run, 12-km mountain bike, 10-km cross-country ski
The Under23 womens race was also contested at the same time as the elite women and it was an absolutely dominating performance by Norwegian Marthe Myhre. She decimated the field by more than 13 minutes. Italy took silver while Estonia came through for the bronze.

Elite Men - February 23, 2008
7.5-km run, 12-km mountain bike, 10-km cross-country ski
Norwegian Arne Post won the ITU Winter Triathlon World Championship for the second time in his career, successfully defending his title. Frenchman Nicolas Lebrun, last years bronze medalist, won the silver this time around and current European Champion Andreas Svanebo of Sweden took the bronze.

After the crowd was still buzzing over German Sigrid Mutschellers historic win in the womens race, Florian Holzinger had the crowds cheering as he led the men into the first transition after the 7.5-kilometer run. On the gruelling 12-kilometer mountain bike course, Holzinger was alone in front and owned a 50-second lead but was being hunted down by the strong chase pack.

The race turned in T2 as Holzinger left transition only to have his lead shrink to less than 15 seconds. Post surged past the Holzinger and after the second lap built a 70-second lead. The defending champion tore up the ski course and cruised to the finish line for his fourth World Championship. Lebrun hung on for silver while Svanebo came back hard in the final last two laps to take the bronze. Two-time World Champion Sigi Bauer of Austria suffered a flat tire in the first lap of the bike leg and was forced to pull out.

It was a very good race for me. I had a good run and I had a good group on the bike so I did not have to use that much energy. Nobody followed me on the cross-country skiing, thats where Im at my best so its good for me when its a tough ski course and in tough conditions so I had a very good day, said Post.

Under23 Men - February 23, 2008
7.5-km run, 12-km mountain bike, 10-km cross-country ski
In the Under23 mens race, Peter Viana won gold in a commanding performance. It was the step up he was looking for after his silver from last year. Gjermund Nordskar made it a gold-silver outing for Norway while Peter Mosny got Slovakia on the podium with the bronze.

Junior Men - February 23, 2008
5-km run, 6-km mountain bike, 5-km cross-country ski
In a tightly contested and exciting junior mens race, Frenchman Rudy Molard took the gold over Czech Vit Zahula but just eight seconds. Molard was fourth after the run and with the second-fastest ski split of the day, he became the first winter triathlete from France to win the junior mens world title. Felix Waldhuber used the fastest ski in the field to take the bronze.

Elite Womens Team Relay - February 24, 2008
2.5-km run, 3-km mountain bike, 3-km cross-country ski
The ITU Winter Triathlon World Championships wrapped on Sunday with team relays. The exciting team races are popular events for the fans and athletes because of the fast and furious pace.

Germany won the elite womens team relay with another dominating performance. Anchored by six-time world champion Sigrid Mutscheller, Team Germany came from behind to win its seventh team title since 2001. Despite leading for most of the race, Norway couldnt stop the unstoppable Mutscheller and took the silver. It was also a double medal weekend for Carina Wasle who anchored Austria to bronze.

Elite Mens Team Relay - February 24, 2008
2.5-km run, 3-km mountain bike, 3-km cross-country ski
There was sweet redemption in the elite mens team relay as Sigi Bauer, who failed to finish on Saturday due to a flat tire, led Austria to gold in time of 1 hour 22 minutes and 23 seconds. Germany took the silver and four-time world champion Arne Post helped Norway to bronze, edging out the Italian team by five seconds.

Germany was in the lead from the beginning with Stefan Franz and Florian Holzinger increasing the gap leg by leg. After the 2.5-kilometer run, Bauer stole the lead from Germany and never looked back. He was the first out of T2 and owned a commanding lead with Germany in second and Italy in third.

As the final athletes for each team began, the Norwegian team was nearly three minutes behind the leader. Norway seemed out of medal contention until Post headed out onto the course. After the run, he was about one minute and ten seconds behind the Italian anchor Daniel Antonioli. But Post caught him near the end of the ski course to claim bronze for Norway.

Junior Mens Team Relay - February 24, 2008
2.5-km run, 3-km mountain bike, 3-km cross-country ski
In the junior mens relay, Austria won with a dominating start to finish performance. Italy took the bronze while Germany thrilled the home crowds with another medal, this time a bronze in the junior mens relay.

Final thoughts on the ITU Winter Triathlon World Championships
Arne Post is a deadly serious athlete who has made new progress in cross country skiing this year. Now he is almost qualified for the Norwegian team in this discipline and that tells a lot about him. Besides he is a modest guy who always takes time to help his teammates, said Kare J Grotta, Team Leader for Norway

Im very happy with the race because I wasnt sure it would fit with so little snow. But we had tremendous races. It was a fair competition and with this weather I have to be happy. We had about 250 volunteers, working day and night to put the snow here in the area because it was mostly artificial snow. They have been working for ten days to put in this 2.5-kilometer race track, said Uli Mutscheller, LOC event organizer. Im very proud of (my wife) Sigrid because she had a lot of pressure because she knew about all the stress with the snow and my sleepless night so I think she did a good job to concentrate on the race and Im very proud she could win her sixth world championship here at home.